A Croydon teenager who was filmed attacking a driver with a huge zombie knife was the victim of a horrific kidnapping just six weeks beforehand, it has been revealed.

Joshua Gardner was kidnapped at gunpoint by a gang over a friend’s drug debt between March 26 and April 2 this year, the Old Bailey heard on Tuesday (November 27).

A probation report handed to Judge Anuja Dhir QC said that Gardner, of London Road in Thornton Heath, was “bundled into a car” and “threatened with a gun” because of a drug debt one of his friends had run up.

He was kept against his will for 10 days, and made to sell drugs to work off the debt.

Some of the contents of the report were shared with the court during the sentencing of Gardner after he was found guilty of three offences relating to the zombie knife attack which occurred on London Road at 4pm on May 30.

He was found guilty of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) last Wednesday (November 21), and had previously pleaded guilty to affray and being in possession of an offensive weapon.

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Gardner was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, one year imprisonment for affray and one year's imprisonment for being in possession of an offensive weapon.

These will run concurrently, which means a total sentence of two years.

Crucially, however, his custodial sentence has been suspended for two years, so he won't spend time in jail.

As part of the sentence, Gardener has been given:

a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 hours

a thinking skills programme of 19 hours

150 hours of unpaid work

a curfew meaning he is unable to leave his home between 7pm and 7am, lasting for nine months

Joshua Gardner smashed the front passenger window with the knife

After the sentencing, Detective Constable Aaron Champion, the investigating officer from Croydon CID, said: "The footage that was circulated widely in the media, which showed Gardner waving around a zombie style knife understandably shocked both the communities of Croydon and the wider public.

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"He had decided that day for whatever reason that he would attack this man and brazenly pulled out this knife in front of horrified members of the public, some of whom had finished work or had collected their children from school.

"His conviction and sentence send out the message that the police will not tolerate the mindset Gardner seems to have adopted - that the casual use of a knife is justified to settle even minor differences."